The Spectator

Thursday

The Spectator

All together now | 1 November 2012

From our UK edition

Fraser Nelson British politicians have long dreamt of regulating the press, but have always been hampered by the basic point that the press isn’t theirs to regulate. Only now, with the industry on its knees, do the enemies of press freedom feel able to strike. Their hope is to appoint a press watchdog who would stand well back at first, but be able to tighten the screws if need be. The less scrupulous MPs believe that from that moment on, power will shift. They will be able to speak softly to journalists, while carrying a very big stick. I had a taste of this last month when a senior MP telephoned me asking me to discipline a Spectator writer who had displeased him on Twitter.

Wednesday

The Spectator

Shelf Life: Judy Finnigan

From our UK edition

Judy Finnigan tells us which Dane she'd take on holiday, which book she found in her mother's bedside drawer and which book had better be on Richard Madeley's reading list. Eloise by Judy Finnigan is published by Sphere. She tweets @judyfinnigan. 1). What are you reading at the moment? I’m currently re-reading American Wife, by Curtis Sittenfeld. 2). As a child, what did you read under the covers? Lady Chatterley’s Lover, by D.H. Lawrence. I found it in my mother’s bedside drawer. 3). Has a book ever made you cry, and if so which one? The Time Traveller’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger. Do not judge this wonderful novel by the awful film. 4). You are about to be put into solitary confinement for a year and allowed to take three books. What would you choose?

Thursday

The Spectator

Letters | 25 October 2012

From our UK edition

The toxic centre-ground Sir: I found it hard to be convinced by Matthew Parris’s claim (‘The centre holds’, 20 October) that David Cameron has ‘brilliantly understood’ that old ‘nasty party’ problem. It is held by the soft wet left of the Conservative party that Mrs Thatcher’s party was that ‘toxic’ nasty party. However, the figures suggest the opposite. She won her first election as leader in 1979 with 13.7 million votes, her second in 1983 with 13.0 million and her third with in 1987 with 13.8 million. In the afterglow of Thatcherism without the poll tax, John Major scored a record 14.2 million. That master politician Tony Blair managed 13.5 million in 1997, but by his third victory that had fallen to 9.

The Spectator

Portrait of the week | 25 October 2012

From our UK edition

Home Andrew Mitchell, the Conservative chief whip, resigned, still denying that he referred to police as ‘plebs’ for refusing to allow him to cycle through the main gate to Downing Street three weeks ago. The Chancellor, George Osborne, was caught in a first-class carriage with a standard-class ticket. One of his aides paid £160 for an upgrade, saying that the Chancellor couldn’t possibly travel in standard class. The Prime Minister said that energy companies would be put under a duty to make sure that their customers were on the lowest-possible tariff, but the plan lasted only three hours. The working population rose by 212,000 to just under 30 million, the highest number ever recorded.